The Story of an Ugly Girl
by tulip meadow
Summary: A story for the 100 word challenge. The tale of Hamstead's 19-year-old daughter Anne who joins the Everafter War and immediately gets captured. What will her life in the Hand's prison bring her? Strength of character. Courage. Patience. And - love?..
1. The Prisoners

**I'm tired of my Puckabrina one-shots, so in this fanfic the couple doesn't appear at all.**

**This story's rather long to be publish as a chapter of Short Stories**… Genre: adventure/romance.

* * *

**Word #37. Ugly**

**The story of an ugly girl**

**Chapter 1. The Prisoners**

Anne Hamstead was ugly, She had known it since her very childhood. She couldn't understand it! Her mother Elizabeth Jumpcow, or simply Bess, as everyone called her, was one of the most beautiful Everafters in New York City. Her father Ernest Hamstead was unnaturally fat, but still nobody could call him ugly.

Anne didn't know why she was born so terribly ugly. She had short reddish hair, a very large nose, too thin lips, too thick brown eyebrows and a tanned complexion. Plus she was short, too short to be noticed, as she thought to herself.

When she was nineteen, she wanted to enter the war with the Scarlet Hand.

"Perhaps if I fight bravely and Queen Titania with King Mustardseed praise me, people will forget my ugliness," the poor girl decided. She told her mother about her decision.

"OK, Annie, I know you very well. I know you're determined," Bess smiled. "But this war is very dangerous."

"I want to fight, nevertheless!"

Bess sighed:

"All right, dear. I'll tell His Majesty about it. Maybe he'll allow you to help our people with plans and strategy, and actually it's the best choice for a young weak clever girl."

Anne wasn't all satisfied with her mother's words. She wanted to show her courage and heroism on a battlefield, not on a quiet military base. But still, it was great for her to enter the Everafter War! She dreamed of wearing a helmet (so that no our would notice her face and hair), of riding a horse (so that nobody would see she's so short), and of killing the Master of the Scarlet Hand himself.

* * *

In two days, she went to the palace of the King of Faerie – now the main military base on the battle front of New York.

When Anne was waiting for her first tasks, a messenger fairy ran inside the palace.

"Urgent news! Urgent news!" he cried as he caught his breath. He turned around and noticed Anne:

"Miss, could you please tell His Majesty that Joe the messenger has returned – with _urgent news_!"

"Yes, sir," Anne curtsied and ran to tell King Mustardseed about Joe the messenger. King Mustardseed called for Joe to come to the throne room. Joe rushed inside, bowed and started talking immediately:

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty…"

"Hello, Joe. Where have you been today?" Mustardseed interrupted. The messenger said proudly:

"I've turned into an earthworm and crawled into the cells of the Scarlet Hand Local Prison in New York. The guards didn't even see me! Ha! I checked the cells and met every single one of our people who had been captured. I was alone, so I didn't try to rescue them. But – suddenly – I saw a cell that was without any door or window! I saw it, because there was a little hole in the wall that led to this cell. 'Maybe the prisoner in there is incredibly dangerous for the Scarlet Hand!' I guessed and I crawled through the hole. And I saw…"

Joe made a theatrical pause.

"Joe, you're not making a speech," Mustardseed reminded him. Joe smiled slyly and finished the sentence:

"COBWEB!"

Anne, who was listening to the whole dialogue, wasn't impressed at all. She had never heard this name. But Mustardseed seemed to know that Cobweb person very well. His eyes and his mouth opened wide:

"What?"

Joe was proud of impressing the King himself so much. He continued the story:

"Cobweb didn't drown back then! One of John Silver's pirates fished him out of the water and brought him to Oz. Oz quickly figured out that Cobweb had big powers, so he ordered to put him into a secret cell of their prison. Cobweb was allowed to eat once in two days – he was terribly weakened when I saw him, he was hard to recognize! He's now pale as snow, and his hair are longer than Queen Titania's!

"I gave him my share of bread and vegetables when I transformed into a human form," Joe added. "He was starving."

"We have to save him from there!" Mustardseed said, frowning. "He's my second greatest friend after my brother. Also his powers are needed. Joe, thanks a lot! Now you can go."

Joe bowed and left the throne room.

"Ms. Hamstead, did you tell me that you dreamed of going to a battlefield?" Mustardseed suddenly asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, it's one of my favorite wishes," Anne nodded.

"And can you transform into animals like your parents do?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I can turn into both a cow and a pig. When being a cow, I can jump very high. When being a pig, I'm very strong."

"Excellent. I'm thinking of sending a rescue group to the Scarlet Hand Local Prison. Cobweb must be freed, along with dozens of other Faerie troops. You'll be one of the rescue group. Understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Anne jumped with joy. Her dream was coming true! She would break into real prison, freeing real captured soldiers! The King, himself, gave her the order. Hooray!

* * *

**11.30 p. m. The Scarlet Hand Local Prison of New York City**

Mbvorrle was a goblin, a soldier of the Scarlet Hand. But he didn't fight at all; he worked as a guard in the prison. In his opinion, it was a much better thing than fighting and getting bad injuries on the battlefield. The prison corridors were always quiet, and Mbvorrle could torture the prisoners!

He liked his job. But in the late evening, it could get a little boring.

Mbvorrle had just checked the cells in Corridor One and walked to the front yard. There, he met his colleagues, Xtomm and Klotgioc.

"It's going to be cold now," Xtomm said. "So, Mbvorrle, is everything OK in Corridor One?"

"Nothing interesting," Mbvorrle yawned. "All is quiet."

"That's because your corridor's full of proud fairy men," Klotgioc explained. "They're always silent, especially when questioned," he laughed. "The cells of Corridor Two contain women and children, so there's always someone crying or whimpering. I have to ignore most of it. And Xtomm has the most important corridor, am I right?"

"Yeah, Corridor Three is mostly for the powerful guys," Xtomm said. "I don't believe they're so powerful. If they were powerful, why would they still suffer so much in here?"

"Don't make Oz suspect you in doing your job badly or not liking it," Klotgioc warned his friend. "If we're fired from here, we'll have to fight." He shuddered. "Mbvorrle, could you stop talking to yourself?"

"I'm not talking at all," Mbvorrle exclaimed. "Xtomm, is it you?"

Xtomm was busy chewing an enormous piece of gum.

"Uh-oh…" Klotgioc said. "Mbvorrle, Xtomm, quickly – check the yard for unwanted visitors!"

The three goblins examined the prison yard but found nothing suspicious in there.

"Maybe I imagined it…" Klotgioc mumbled, when, suddenly, he saw a flash of bright light in Corridor Three! The goblins ran inside and saw six tall men, one tall woman and a short one, and a hundred of gingerbread people standing near Cobweb's cell. The men were crashing the wall with some kind of magical wand.

"HE..." Mbvorrle started, but the tall woman threw a stone at his head. "lp..." the goblin gasped, falling on the floor. Xtomm was a little cleverer: he ran to fight the enemies, but slipped on the gumdrop thrown by a gingerbread man and collapsed on the ground as well. Klotgioc, the smartest of all, hid in a dark corner and thought:

"I have to go and alarm Oz! If I try to fight, I'll be killed or injured badly, and everyone will escape! But if I tell Oz about this now, maybe he'll be able to catch some of them!"

And Klotgioc ran outside, jumped over the prison gates, turned into a human, and teleported himself to Central Park. Then he went to Oz's apartment – he knew its location very well.

* * *

Ugly short Anne Hamstead was having the time of her life. She watched the six fairies breaking into Cobweb's cell, the goblin guards' attack, and Cobweb getting outside. She was so excited!

Cobweb looked very scary after so many years spent in a cell like this. He was almost as thin as a needle, his face was terribly pale indeed, his hair was long and dirty, so its natural color couldn't be figured. The fairies helped him to get on his feet and walked him outside.

"Firefly? Haricot? Rainfall and Thunder, Grasshopper, Oak, is it you?" Cobweb asked, looking at the six fairies and slowly recognizing them. Tears streamed down his wounded white face. "Is everything real?"

"It's real, you're free, Cobweb," the fairy named Rainfall assured him with a smile.

Cobweb turned to look at the rest of his saviors:

"Momma! And with your faithful gingerbread army!" he wiped his tears away. Momma happily greeted him and introduced me:

"Cobweb, it's Anne Hamstead, daughter of Hamstead and Bess. Anne, this is Cobweb."

"So Bess and Hamstead did marry?" Cobweb's expression was like a smile, but his frown was sad and his eyes were tired, so the smile looked fake. "Wonderful! Oh, how many years I wasted in this wretched cell..."

"Sorry, Cobweb, we need to save as many people as we can until the help for these guards arrives," Haricot said. The six fairies continued breaking into cells and getting exhausted, injured, pale prisoners out of there. Anne's excitement was now replaced with shock. How cruel the Scarlet Hand must have been!

Cobweb was standing near her and Momma. His face was still wet with tears.

"How much I had missed!" he repeated over and over. Momma told him what happened during the twenty years of his imprisonment.

"Don't worry, we're close to defeating the Hand," she said.

"They're going to pay for all this," Cobweb said and pointed to the broken prison cells.

* * *

**Forty-five minutes later**

More than fifty men, ten women and ten children were saved. Except for the two unconscious guards, Corridor Three was empty, as well as twenty-two cells of Corridor Two. Suddenly, one of the gingerbread men jumped with fear and cried:

"There are many people coming here! Angry people! I hear them!"

"Uh-oh, we have to leave," Firefly said.

"How?" one of the saved women cried. "We better return to the cells, else the Hand will kill us!"

"No, we won't allow it," Firefly said. "Everyone able to fight, surround the former prisoners and fight your way! Understand?"

Anne was frightened but she was one of the first fighters to run outside, transforming into a pig while running. Sixty of the Scarlet Hand soldiers surrounded them, but the fairies weren't so easy to kill! In ten minutes, half of the enemies was dead, but one fairy, Grasshopper, was killed, and Thunder was lightly injured.

Cobweb was fighting, too, and trying to get over his weakness. Anne defended him with all her might: he was the weakest of them all.

Another five minutes passed. Something hit Anne's head, and her world became blurry. Nevertheless, she was able to see her friends and the saved prisoner opening the gates and rushing away.

"They've escaped..." she thought happily, and the world faded completely.

* * *

**Mustardseed's palace, an hour later**

"Nooo!" Bess cried, breaking into a hysterical fit. "My daughter's captured!.. Annie's left there!"

"We were outnumbered," Momma said. "We did what we could. We lost Grasshopper and Haricot... Your daughter was very brave..."

"She saved my life four times during the fight," Cobweb sighed. "We should set her free."

"We'll have to wait," Mustardseed said. "Tomorrow's a large battle. After it, I'll sent a bigger rescue group and destroy the whole prison building."

* * *

**The prison yard**

Anne's unconscious body was carried into a free cell in Corridor Two. Klotgioc promised Oz:

"I'll question her. She mustn't be treated too hard, and in _that_ case she'll tell us everything we need!"

He waited until Anne woke up, and then he said:

"So, miss I-don't-know-your-name, we need some information from you."

"You won't get it!" Anne's face twisted with rage. Klotjioc wasn't so stupid to shout or threaten her. He calmly continued:

"We're not even asking you to join us. We just want to know: where is King Mustardseed going to fight us tomorrow? Tell the truth, and you'll be free. Nothing else is requested. Only the answer."

"_DUH_!" Anne said. She decided to say only this as an answer. The guard chuckled:

"Oh, if only our soldiers were this silent when captured... Well, all right, fine, I won't ask you about the place where the battle's set. Just tell us who'll lead the army. That's all I'm asking now."

"_DUH_!" Anne said.

"One simple answer - and you're free."

"_DUH_!" Anne said.

"Oh, your freedom isn't all!" Klotjioc smiled. "Fine. The prisoners will be free. All of them."

"_DUH_!" Anne said. She was thinking:

"Of course they want to know whom they'll have to kill. An army without leaders means a snake without a head - I've heard it somewhere... The prisoners will be free. Oh, I don't think they'll do what they promised."

Meanwhile, Klotjioc was trying to think of something else to offer.

"Well..." he said. "What if we give you a thousand of gold coins?"

"_DUH_!" Anne replied.

"Duh again?" Klotjioc thought for a while. "And what if... what if the Wicked Witch of the West, who lives in Bronx and has recently joined the Hand, gives you a potion that will make you beautiful? You're almost as ugly as I am," he said with a hint of pride.

Anne was stunned. But she mustered her bravery to say "_DUH_" again.

"Why don't you agree to all of the promises?" Klotjioc wanted to know.

"Promises! Duh! You won't fulfill them. And I don't want to betray our army, which is even more important," Anne snapped.

"Won't fulfill them?" the goblin repeated slyly and left the cell.

* * *

Klotjioc made up a plan of getting all the information the Hand needed.

"We mustn't promise money and happiness to that girl, we need to give it to her. She'll tell everything! She'll even join the Hand!"

"Great!" Oz said. "Let's first take her to the Wicked Witch of the West, she has some beauty potions indeed."

So they did.


	2. A New Beauty

**Chapter 2. A New Beauty**

Anne's POV

That Klotgioc came to me, smiling wickedly:

"C'mon, we're getting you to the Witch of the West. She's going to give you a beauty potion…"

"What?" I was shocked. I didn't know they were going to make me beautiful indeed! Despite I hated the Scarlet Hand, I suddenly felt happy. Farewell, my nineteen years of ugliness! I followed Klotgioc to the prison yard, where we got into a carriage with a sparkling handprint sign made of rubies.

"Will you tell us about your leader now?" Klotgioc smirked.

"Duh!"

"Of course not, of course, since you're still ugly. In the opinions of humanoids," Klotgioc added and laughed. "If you were a goblin, you'd be considered as a beauty."

"Duh!"

"Duh," he mocked. "Let's see what happens when you become really beautiful."

Oz got inside the carriage as well. He looked at me and cringed:

"Oh yeah, you're ugly!"

"Look at yourself first!" I snapped. Klotgioc tried not to laugh.

"Bite your tongue," Oz shouted. "I wasn't teasing you. By the way, you have to remain ugly for just another hour or two. You see, the beauty potion works slowly."

"Since when are you so kind?" I asked.

"We're hoping to get the information," Klotgioc said.

"At most you'll get a 'thank you' for giving me beautiful looks," I said. "I'll never tell you anything. Duh!"

Klotgioc rolled his eyes. The carriage was driven further in silence. I was unsure what to do next.

* * *

**Later**

The carriage stopped near a violet-colored palace. Its towers were decorated with enormous amethysts. Everything looked rich - _too _rich. The owner of the palace seemed to be a proud person.

The owner met us at the gates herself. She wasn't just uglier than me, she was uglier than Klotgioc! I wanted to close my eyes: the Witch of the West looked FRIGHTENING. She shook our hands; her skin was dry like old paper. I scowled. Is _she _going to give a beauty potion to me? Supposedly, the answer was "yes".

The Witch said in a croaky voice:

"Welcome to my modest home, Sir Oz." ("Modest indeed!" I thought). The Witch continued. "Good afternoon, Klotgioc. Hello," she gave me a small nod. She understood that I was a prisoner. "How can I help you today?"

"This girl urgently needs..." Klotgioc started, but the Witch rudely stopped him:

"Goblin! Let Sir Oz speak first! You're a plain servant!"

"Our prisoner - who refused to tell us her name - needs a beauty potion," Oz explained. "Preferably the one that works the fastest."

"Oh, if that's all, it's just nothing," the Witch smiled. "Girl! Come inside."

I hated being treated like a dull animal. I'd have been happier if she called me "ugly". But she looked at me like at some mindless horse. My wish to become beautiful started to fade.

I followed the Witch into a dark hall. Only two candles were lit there, and odd green smoke was filling the air. I felt very creepy. The Witch went somewhere and returned with a lovely orange flower which somehow resembled an aster.

"The honey of the Sunny Aster will disguise your ugliness," the Witch said. "Wait a minute. I'll call my bees." She sounded a little kinder than earlier, so I was relaxed. A swarm of large bees flew inside when the Witch whistled twice. She put a chalk pot on a table, and the bees started gathering honey from the flower and bringing it to the pot.

When it was full of honey, the bees disappeared. The Witch gave me the pot and a brass spoon, and I tasted the honey.

"Nothing special," I thought, greatly disappointed. "Just like buckwheat or white honey."

But I ate it, nevertheless. I liked honey very much, and I didn't have breakfast in the prison. The Witch smiled and led me to a large dusty mirror hanging on the wall.

"Look," she said. I looked at my reflection. Nothing had changed.

"Look, continue looking," the Witch said. "The transformation is exciting."

* * *

I stood and looked in the mirror - and suddenly, I saw myself changing indeed! First, my large round nose grew smaller and smaller, until it reached the normal size. Then somehow it changed shape a little and became really nice-looking! After that, my hair color started to change. They darkened, and became glossy. I had lovely auburn hair with golden gloss!

My eyebrows became thinner and darker, my skin became rosy. My thin lips grew thicker, and also they were the natural shade of red now.

Finally, my short hair grew long and wavy.

I couldn't believe my eyes - and yet I could recognize myself! I heartily thanked the Witch, forgetting about everything in the world.

Then I exited her palace. Klotgioc and Oz were waiting for me out there. Oz shot a glance at me and shrugged:

"Almost the same. Anyway, thank you, Witch." The Witch curtsied and said:

"Always at your service. I'm glad to serve the Scarlet Hand."

Klotgioc's reaction was different. He theatrically exclaimed "Oh!" and bowed:

"You're gorgeous now."

"Duh!" I said and thought to myself:

"Oh, of course! He's clever enough to flatter me. He hopes I'll become kinder and tell everything about the tomorrow campaign. Mr. Klotgioc, I'm afraid I won't tell you anything."

* * *

**Mustardseed's Palace**

Cobweb's POV

The battle was going to take place tomorrow, in the Green Pixie Hills. We were going to attack the Scarlet Hand by surprise, near the river. They would never see us coming!

I asked for the permission to go to the battle as well. Sure, I was weak, but I wanted the Hand to pay for everything they had done.

Also, I tried to convince His Majesty to send another rescue group to the prison. Somehow I couldn't forget about the girl who was captured during my escape. Anne Hamstead, her wide shocked hazel eyes. She seemed to be doing her first task in the war... She was doing her first task. She joined fighting two days earlier, as I had learned.

Hamstead and Bess were desperate too, but despite our pleadings, King Mustardseed said firmly:

"The rescue group won't be sent before the battle."

I felt like I had to organize this group by myself. But I couldn't do it and, besides, I'm a loyal servant! So I asked His Majesty:

"Could you at least allow me to go and check how is Anne doing now?"

"All right," he gave up. "But, Cobweb, be careful, or you might return to your cell."

I turned into a bird and flew all the way to the Scarlet Hand Local Prison. When I reached the yard, I transformed into an earthworm.

"She must have been put into Corridor Two," I guessed. "It's for women and children."

* * *

I checked every single cell of Corridor Two and spotted a lot of familiar faces, but Anne wasn't among them. I was a little surprised and moved to Corridor One - it held the fairy warriors. Anne wasn't there either.

"Is she considered so powerful?" I thought. "She just can't be put into Corridor Three!.. B-but - who knows? The Scarlet Hand is perfectly unpredictable."

I crawled through Corridor Three - it was empty!

I turned into a butterfly and flew to Oz's living place.

"Perhaps they're questioning her right now," I decided. Now I picked the right place!

* * *

I turned into a worm again and crept inside Oz's villa. There, in the front hall, Oz, a goblin guard and Anne were sitting. Anne was much more beautiful than yesterday! Her confused, scared shining hazel eyes remained the same, but her reddish short hair became long and auburn, her skin grew paler - but it was her!

"So, we gave you three thousand of gold coins. Would you tell us now?" the goblin was asking in a sugary voice.

"Duh!" Anne said.

"Klotgioc, your plan was a foolishness!" Oz suddenly shouted at the goblin. "We must torture her to find out something useful!"

Klotgioc was confused. Oz yelled:

"Tell us the name of the leader of the tomorrow battle! NOW!"

Anne shook her head. Oz raised his fist.

"One... two..." he counted.

Oh, what could I do? I was helpless! I had no weapons! I was weakened! On the other hand, I wasn't able to watch this!

"Threeeeeeeee..." Oz continued and barked:

"No more time!"

He threw his fist at Anne's face.


	3. A Useless Captive

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_**I've changed the rating, but don't get too excited with it, it's just for safety.**_

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* * *

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**Chapter 3. A Useless Captive**

Anne's POV

"Oh, they want to use torture?" I thought sarcastically. "They won't get more than a couple of groans!"

Oz's fist slammed in my face. Surprisingly for me, the pain didn't come immediately. Maybe it was shock, maybe it was something else, but at first I only felt bones cracking and warm blood on my face. After a moment, finally, a terrible ache started to grow in my nose - or what was left of it. I clenched my teeth: I didn't want to show them that it hurt.

Suddenly, Klotgioc clearly said:

"You are a fool."

Oz turned to him:

"WHAT?"

"You heard it. You're a fool. We've tortured hundreds of their warriors, and none of them said a word."

"One more word from you, filthy insect, and you'll join their warriors in the prison corridor!"

"What good will it do for you?"

"I'll get rid of a bold unfaithful rude servant!"

"The first thing we need is to get the names of the enemies' commanders. The second thing is to get rid of me. You see, putting me into a cell will be a wise thing, but it won't help you win the battle."

"We've never tortured women and children! We were wrong with this! They're weak! This girl will tell everything after being tortured several times!" and he threw his fist at my face again. Unfortunately, he didn't aim it well, so the fist hit my neck. I gasped, lacking breath. My throat seemed to be on fire. I wanted to cough the pain away, but then I felt horrible weakness all around me. The world became black.

My ears still caught some of the sounds. Sounds of cries, someone's wings's flapping, clanging swords. The last thing I heard was presumably Oz, who yelled:

"Rebel!"

Then all of my feelings were blocked.

____

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* * *

_

When they reappeared, the first thing I felt was the pain in my nose and throat. But it was much weaker than before. Breathing didn't hurt at all, and when I tried to say something, it hurt only a little. Then I heard a voice:

"What's your name?"

My memory wasn't working properly yet, and the voice seemed only faintly familiar.

"Anne Hamstead," I said. "What happened? Where am I?"

"In the prison hospital," the voice said. "What happened? Prepare yourself for the worst. Let's just say that some of your blood vessels are hurt; the beauty potion stopped working; and your nose is broken. But also there are some good news specially for you to cheer you up. You won't be tortured anymore; Oz is dying, or hopefully dead already; that Cobweb fairy has escaped once more; you'll live despite your wounds."

I blinked, and the visible world slowly appeared before my eyes. I was lying on a bed in a small, dimly lit room. It looked better than a prison cell, so I felt a bit relaxed. Three dryads in white dresses (probably nurses or doctors) were preparing some medicines, mixing potions on a table nearby. Klotgioc was sitting in a chair near the window.

"Tell me more about the things that happened," I pleaded.

"All right. After you fainted, Oz was furious with me. You see, if you told him anything, I'd have been a fool - in his opinion. If you didn't tell him anything - which is precisely what happened - I'd have been an idiot!" Klotgioc laughed. "I was tired of all this treatment. I threatened him, and - well, we started to fight. Also that Cobweb fairy seemed to appear out of thin air and joined the fight, when he saw you were covered in blood. When the servants came, I choked Oz to death, I hope. Cobweb flew out of the window and was gone within moments.

"I was put into the prison. You know, strong soldiers are too valuable and rare to be executed - even if they strangle the commander! Oh, while we're on the subject, let me tell you that the Faerie army attacked ten of our divisions in the Green Pixie Hills. The battle has started, so there's no use in questioning you anymore."

I sighed with relief. Things had definitely made a turn for the better.

One of the nurses walked to my bed:

"Here, you need to take this medicine. It's a mixture of cold water, healing salve and weak forgetful dust. It will wipe away the pain and the shock," and she handed me a tablespoonful of something purple. I drank it - it tasted like blackberries.

Suddenly, a new goblin guard entered the room and announced:

"Prisoner of the cell number thirteen in Corridor Two, time's out!"

"I need to go back to my cell," Klotgioc said and stood up.

"Wait!" I said. "Why are you kept in Corridor Two? It's for women and children."

"It's the most comfortable corridor in the prison," Klotgioc explained. "I'm not an enemy, after all, and I'm not imprisoned here forever!" he smiled. "So, goodbye, Anne - now I know your name. I'll try to visit you tomorrow. Oh, by the way, when you heal, go to cell number twelve - it's ready for you." He turned away, and the goblin escorted him out of the room.

I lay silently, listening to the nurses, who were chattering about the new battle.

After some thinking, I came up with a very interesting conclusion - I was going to be put into a cell next to Klotgioc's!

______________

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* * *

_

**Two hours later**

I was sleeping, when that new guard (the nurses told me his name was Ltliuson) came to the hospital again.

"The Wizard of Oz is dead!" he told us. "But Master selected a new Commander for us! He's a good friend of John Silver's, his name is Captain Hook."

The nurses applauded, and I cringed. Ohhh! I was sure that there was nobody worse than Oz! I turned out to be wrong. But - well, what does it matter now? I'll remain a prisoner anyway.

The goblin guard glanced at me:

"Really, why are you wasting your time and healing some useless captive, while you could have tried to save the life of Commander Oz?"

"Sorry, Master's orders," one of the nurses said. The goblin's rudeness faded, he nodded vigorously and agreed:

"We should obey the Master. Continue your job, then!"

I was terribly offended and hurt when he called me "useless". Not that I wanted to tell the Hand about the battle information, no, not at all! I just was too sensitive. I didn't want to be useless to this world.

A blue-eyed nurse advised me:

"Anne, perhaps you'd like to drink the nectar of pasque-flowers?"

"What can that be?"

"Pasque-flower can help you to fall asleep easily."

"Oh, then I'll take it. Is it late now, by the way?"

Another nurse, who had brown hair, looked at her wristwatch and said:

"Indeed it's late. Around 11 p. m., to be exact."

Twenty-four hours had passed since our escape operation! Oh my, I've lost the feeling of time in here.

"Help, help, help, somebody, please help!" I called in my thoughts. "When will anybody get me out of here? Mom, Dad, help, please!"

I drank the bittersweet nectar the brown-haired nurse gave me, and my eyelids felt immensely heavy. I closed them, yawned and fell asleep within moments.

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* * *

**Anne's Dream**

I was walking down a high hill, all covered in pink pasque-flowers. I don't know how I knew that those were pasque-flowers, but it was certain.

"Where am I?"

"In the Green Pixie Hills, near the Diamond River," a voice replied, and I turned around to see Cobweb hovering eight feet above the ground. He outstretched his hand.

"I'll take you to this battle. You must see it."

I took his hand, and we flew in the sky for about ten minutes, until we approached the Diamond River. There was a grand battle set on its bank. Our army, led by Mustardseed, Dad, Mom and a few generals, and the Scarlet Hand army, led by Captain Hook, were fighting each other. I wanted to join the fight and told Cobweb to land me.

"They'll take you to the prison," he answered. "Let's get away from here."

"But..." I never had a chance to finish the phrase. An arrow came out of midair into Cobweb's back. He gasped and released my hand. I started to fall, screaming. I heard Mom and Dad's surprised cries, when they spotted me. The Scarlet Hand launched spells and shot arrows at me, barely missing the target. I was preparing to die when someone caught me.

I looked up to see it was Klotgioc.

"You're not well yet!" he scolded. "You have to be brought to the hospital!"

He carried me to the prison building. I was surprised to find it so close to the battlefield.

Then Klotgioc entered the building and brought me to the hospital rooms. The nurses and the new goblin guard Ltliuson were already waiting for us in there.

The blue-eyed nurse took the bandages away from my nose and throat and smiled:

"Oh, no worries, Klotgioc. Anne has almost healed. She'll have to spent only another day in the hospital."

After this, everyone suddenly disappeared. I was left alone in the room.

"I can run away!" I realized and opened the window. There was sunshine and warm breeze - nothing more - outside the prison now. I smiled and climbed out of this window, softly landing on the ground.

Suddenly, Cobweb and Klotgioc appeared again. Cobweb was alive and well, without any wound from that arrow. Both looked at me with sadness.

"Run away, Anne," Klotgioc said.

"You're going to be executed, by order of Captain Hook," Cobweb explained.

"But if Cobweb and I agree to be killed instead, then the Hand won't search for you," Klotgioc sighed.

"So we agreed," Cobweb added.

"Farewell," they both said in unison.

"No, I won't allow two people dying instead of one me!" I cried.

The bright sunshine faded. Some force pushed me on a gibbet, and a man with a scarlet handprint on his coat tightened a rope around my neck. I felt like falling down...

"No!" Cobweb cried, flew to me and held me in midair, preventing me from collapsing on the ground. But the executioner took a sword and thrust it into Cobweb's head - and I fell...

* * *

...and woke up. The nurse who had a tanned face looked at me with worry:

"What was it, Anne? You have been crying in your sleep."

"I-I had a nightmare," I explained. "I thought I had been executed."

"Don't worry," the nurse smiled kindly. "We rarely execute our prisoners, especially young girls. Now, Anne, take the medicines, because Birchtree will bring the breakfast within minutes."

"Birchtree?" I was confused.

"Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves!" the nurse exclaimed. "Birchtree has brown hair. Linden has blue eyes. And I'm Araucaria."

"Nice to meet you," I said with irony. Araucaria chuckled:

"C'mon, you have to take nine medicines before Birchtree brings the food. And then you have to finish with your breakfast before your visitor comes to you."

I took the medicines. Birchtree brought corn flakes with milk, a raspberry pie and a cup of tea for breakfast. I was surprised by the quality of the food.

"The badly sick prisoners eat good food," Birchtree explained.

Soon after this, Ltliuson came to the room and informed us:

"Prisoner of cell number thirteen, Corridor Two, has come for a visit."

Araucaria and Birchtree both left the room, and Klotgioc entered.

"Hello, Anne."

"Hello, Klotgioc."

"You know," he said, sitting on the chair, "now that Oz is dead at last, I can tell you my biggest secret."

I was intrigued. What was the secret and what did it have to do with Oz's murder. Klotgioc saw my interest, breathed in deeply and said:

"I'm not a goblin, Anne."


	4. Klotgioc's Revenge

**Chapter 4. Klotgioc's Revenge**

Anne's POV

I was more than shocked. I blinked several times to make sure my eyes didn't lie. They surely didn't lie. There certainly was _a real goblin _sitting in the chair.

"Th-then _who_ are you?" I exclaimed. Klotgioc sighed:

"A half-human. In fact, I'd have stayed a simple human, if I wasn't born in the country where a fairy-tale took place."

"No offense - but you look... er... I mean..."

"I look terrible, like a true goblin," Klotgioc laughed. "I was kidnapped and enslaved by goblins, along with my sister. She was eighteen and I was ten at the time. I can't even remember my human name! What I do remember is that my sister had the same name as you, Anne," he added softly. "And she was ugly. Very ugly. She was uglier than I am now. She resembled real goblins, but she had a very kind soul.

"The goblin crown prince fell in love - if I can say this word - with Anne and married her against her will. Soon, both of them were crowned. That didn't mean that I had been treated better since then. On the contrary, I remain the lowest of all servants.

"In two years, Anne gave birth to a goblin boy. _He_ was his father's exact copy: not only ugly, but also evil. I hated him and his father mostly because my sister died of childbirth and because the goblin king wasn't too sad about it: soon after Anne's death he married a goblin duchess. I was always rude and impolite with the royal family, and, of course, all of them couldn't stand me. They showered me with the hardest tasks: I carried enormous stones all by myself, I dug graves - all by myself as well, etc. After many years of such life, I looked like a goblin..."

"Sorry, Klotgioc, wait a minute!" I interrupted. "I think I've read something about a goblin king marrying a human woman, and having a son, and then marrying a goblin..."

"Of course," Klotgioc said sadly. "George MacDonald. 'Princess and the Goblin'."

"Yes, yes, now I remember it! But it says that all the goblins drowned..."

"Thankfully, yes, they did. I was the only survivor because I ran away in all the mess. I've planned this escape. I hoped to find a shelter in a human village, but I still looked like a goblin, so I only scared human beings. I wanted to search for a wizard who could make me look like a normal man. I didn't succeed. People thought I was a goblins' spy. After several years of wandering across that country, I've learned to hate the humans who lived in it. To put it shortly, let's say I hated everyone. I hated goblins for ruining my life and humans for not wanting to rebuild it.

"I made a small but nice wooden boat and decided to sail far away and seek future happiness. You'd be exhausted if I told you of my endless travels by boat and all of my queer adventures. I'll skip many years and move to another important day in my life. My boat encountered a beautiful large ship, called 'The New Beginning' in German. I saw it as a sign of a good fate finally coming to me.

"The ship was owned by Wilhelm Grimm, who was sailing to America with a large crowd of different Everafters. I asked him to take me with them, and he agreed. It was obvious for him that I was a goblin.

"The Wizard of Oz offered to hire me as one of his bodyguards. I accepted the offer, because Oz seemed kind and polite back then... Unfortunately, he quickly figured out with all his magic that I was almost a plain human! He couldn't stand humans, except for Wilhelm Grimm, whom he could _barely _stand.

"So I was treated worse than in the goblins' caves. I was always wrong, I couldn't say a word without Oz's permission. I couldn't even choose whom to fight for! Oz joined the Scarlet Hand, and his guards had to join the Scarlet Hand as well.

"You see, Anne, I'm very selfish, and I wanted to live as easily and happily as possible. So I said to myself: 'I have to obey Oz. Maybe he'll treat me better in that case.' But he didn't. He always showed me that _he _was the cleverest, the most powerful, the most respectable Commander in the world, and _I _was a complete fool, an idiot, a dull, stupid human, and so on and on and on.

"I mustered all of my self-control to continue working for him. It was now wartime, and it was hard to earn your bed-and-breakfast.

"But when he started to torture you, reminding me of the goblin king torturing my poor sister, I wasn't able to keep my mouth shut. I called Oz a fool. The argument quickly grew into a fight, and I strangled him."

I lay still, stunned by this story. While Klotgioc was talking, I could feel tears in my eyes.

Klotgioc lowered his head:

"It was my revenge, Anne."

* * *

I opened my mouth, thinking of what to say to him, when the door opened and Linden came inside, carrying lots of bandages.

"Hi, everyone!" she greeted us joyfully. "Anne, time to put fresh bandages on the wounds. How's your nose? How's your throat?"

"The nose is all right, or at least I can't feel anything now," I said. "But the throat isn't so well, it still hurts to speak. As if it was very, very sore."

"I understand," Linden smiled. "Wait... have you been crying or something?"

"I've told Anne a very sad story," Klotgioc said. "There's nothing to worry about."

Linden quickly changed the bandages on my nose and my throat. I wanted to ask her about the battle, but she informed us herself:

"Captain Hook is nearly losing, he's a much worse leader than Commander Oz. We have a hundred Everafters killed, and King Mustardseed has lost only thirty soldiers!"

The nurse was nearly in tears.

"What a pity that these nurses are in the Scarlet Hand!" I thought. "They are all so kind, and they would be a great help for our military hospital!"

When Linden finished with the bandages, she wanted to know:

"Anne, do you need anything? Cold water, perhaps, or pasque-flower nectar, or weak forgetful dust?"

"No, thank you," I shook my head. "I'm fine, I don't want anything."

"OK," Linden sighed. "I'm going now. Birchtree is on duty now, so ring this bell," she pointed to a little silver bell on the table, "if anything happens." She nodded to us and opened the door to leave the room, and was immediately shoved away by Ltliuson. He entered the room and shouted:

"Prisoner of cell number thirteen, in Corridor Two, time's out!"

"Just as always," Klotgioc grunted. "They don't give me more than half an hour for a single visit."

"I don't have all the time in the world for waiting!" Ltliuson roared. "Go to your cell now!"

"Goodbye, Anne," Klotgioc turned and was escorted away.

Linden shuddered:

"Oh, these goblins. I can't stand them - rude, always shouting, filthy. How dare they come inside a clean hospital building?"

She finally had a chance to go away.

* * *

Klotgioc's POV

Ltliuson, that grunty old goblin, led me down Corridor Two to the thirteenth cell. It's one of the best cells in the corridor. It has two large windows, a comfortable couch and even a table with a chair! You're not alone in here, though: there are four families of rats living on the floor, a gray bat on the ceiling, and a swarm of bluish fireflies.

Maybe people who like these animals wouldn't have felt alone in cell thirteen.

I feel alone in there.

I don't bother the animals' life. On the contrary, I feed rats with crumbs of bread and I allow the fireflies to light the room in the middle of the night. I've gotten used to fall asleep in the rays of their pale blue light.

Anyway, I feel alone in here. The first twenty-two cells of the corridor are now empty: the prisoners have been rescued. So there's no one to talk to. Walls aren't so thick, people can talk through them.

I can't wait for Anne to be healed. She has the cell twelve prepared for her, next to mine. We'll be able to talk, and neither of us will feel lonesome anymore.

Anne... She reminds me of my sister, my poor sister Annetta. The only one who cared for me after our parents died.

She couldn't live through the goblins' tortures. I can remember her last days... Her pale, tear-soaked face, her bleeding wounds and her painful cough. Her trembling thin fingers and trembling quiet voice. She was starving, but she gave the last pieces of food to her brother, to me. If she didn't do it, I'd have died in the goblin's tunnels.

This Anne, with reddish hair and hazel eyes, has the same character. I can easily see it. That's why I told Oz to stop tormenting her. She would have died after his threats and tortures, like my sister did. She has a strong soul in a very weak body.

Poor girl. She was so grateful to us for making her gorgeous - and the beauty potion was washed away by all these medicines.

As for me, I don't know why I think Anne looks better without that potion. It made her seem... too unnatural.

Anne, please heal quickly. I don't know what will be that Master's next orders. What if he wants to execute all sick prisoners? It's much more safe to remain healthy in the Scarlet Hand Local Prison.

Scarlet Hand indeed! I don't even know much about the organization I've joined. What do we want? Conquering the world or something like that. Why? What good will it do? If the Master's like Oz, I don't want him to rule the universe.

They hate all humans. Why? I can explain why _I_ hate all humans. But what do my unfortunate life and terrible character have to do with the careless lives of powerful wizards or crown princes? Many of them have also joined the Hand. What do they have to hate humans for? I don't have the faintest guess...

I've taught myself to think that the Scarlet Hand's enemies are bad. Well, Anne's considered as an enemy, and she's the best of all people I've ever met in America and anywhere, except for my own sister!

The fact is I'm officially the member of the Scarlet Hand, but in my mind I've never agreed with it.

I'm a betrayer, so it's truly wise to keep me here for a while.


	5. The Letter to Freedom

**Chapter 5. The Letter to Freedom**

Klotgioc's POV

In the morning, I begged Ltliuson to allow me to visit Anne again. He mumbled something about "freaky vacations", but gave me the permission nevertheless. After the breakfast, he led me down Corridor Two into the white warm halls of the hospital. I came inside Anne's room, and the nurse, Birchtree, immediately went outside.

"Hello, Anne. How are you feeling today?" I asked.

"Much better, Klotgioc, thanks," she smiled. "Only the throat hurts a little."

I sat on my usual chair and looked at her. She has grown paler and thinner since being captured, but it didn't make her uglier. On the contrary, if anyone asked me, I'd say she was prettier; and the smile made her face look truly lovely.

"Klotgioc, would you do me a favor?" she asked suddenly, after a long pause.

"Of course! What is it?"

Anne sighed:

"I want to write a letter to our people. About myself, and the prison. Cobweb left me bleeding and unconscious, and he was the last one of Faerie people to see me! I think that all of them are sure I'm dead!"

"But how can we deliver a letter from here?" I exclaimed. "The prison is guarded."

"Our spies turn into insects and worms regularly and check the prisoners in the cells!" Anne talked nervously. "I'll write a letter and give it to you. Put it on the floor of your cell. Everyone in the Faerie army knows my handwriting; I've worked as a secretary of my father's. A spy of ours will take it."

"I'd be glad to do it, but where can you get a pen and paper?" I was still confused. Anne realized that it would be impossible. She lowered her head with disappointment. I couldn't watch it, so I thought for a while and figured out an idea at last!

"Anne! I know what to do!" I said in a low whisper, so that the nurses couldn't hear it from the hall. "Tomorrow, I'll pretend to fall a little sick and ask Ltliuson to send you a note about it. He'll give me everything a person needs for a letter, and I'll write something to you - it doesn't matter what exactly. The fact is that you'll ask the nurses to write a response!"

"Oh, of course!" her face lit up with happiness again. "Klotgioc, you're so clever!"

I felt my heart filling with earned pride.

Naturally, Ltliuson just had to come inside and yell his usual "password":

"Prisoner of cell number thirteen of Corridor Two, time's out!"

"It was short today!" I dared to argue.

"Mrs. Alder, the hospital doctor, needs to see patient number thirty-nine," Ltliuson gestured to Anne. "You must leave."

I smiled to Anne and went back to my cell.

"Oh, if only our plan succeeds..."

_____

* * *

_

**On the next day**

Klotgioc's POV

I sat on the bed, coughing. Ltliuson came to my cell, and gave me my share of bread and water:

"Eat, rebel. I think you want to have your usual time off, visiting the hospital?"

"I... I think," I sneezed. "I h... h... have a bad cold," I said in a pathetic voice. "A very bad one."

"Ha! Don't you think that you'd be resting at the hospital!" Ltliuson snorted. "It's only for wounded prisoners. Ha! Your cell's warm enough, so the cold will be cured by itself."

"Well, at least allow me to write a letter to Anne!" I whimpered. The goblin laughed and said:

"There are no records of letter exchange in the prison. I'll go and contact Commander Hook."

He marched outside. I coughed every five minutes (for safety) and awaited Hook's decision anxiously. Finally, Ltliuson returned and grunted:

"Commander Hook allowed it. Here!" he shoved a pen, an envelope, a tube of glue and a piece of paper to me. I was surprised! How generous! Well, perhaps it's because I'm one of them, not an enemy.

I wrote:

* * *

_**Klotgioc's Note:**_

_Anne, all is fine. When receiving the letter, CHECK THE ENVELOPE. If it's sealed up nicely, all is good. If it's not sealed up, Ltliuson READ THE LETTER. In that case, ask the honest nurses to deliver your response._

_I miss you a lot._

* * *

I sealed the envelope up and gave it to Ltliuson. He looked at it with disdain, exited my cell, locked it, and walked down the corridor.

I chewed the bread and thought about Anne. Could she plan her escape using the letter exchange with the Faerie spies? I wished she could. She deserved it. Of course, when she left, I'd miss her terribly, but - well, then, when did I encounter good luck in my life? Never.

"Rescue Anne!" I pleaded in my thoughts, talking with the invisible Faerie army and Anne's family in particular. "Rescue Anne! She can't remain a prisoner! She's so gentle - like my poor sister, who died under the heel of goblins!"

* * *

**Later**

Ltliuson unlocked the door of my cell, came inside and threw a perfectly sealed-up envelope to my feet. I waited for him to go away.

"Why aren't you reading it?" he barked. "You asked to write your note so anxiously, and now the reply comes, and you are barely looking at it!" He eyed me suspiciously. Uh-oh, that was a horrible choice. If I read the letter in front of Ltliuson, Anne would never forgive me. If I didn't read it, Ltliuson would do it himself and find it out to be a letter to Faerie; so he'd kill both of us.

I took a deep breath and opened the letter. Ltliuson watched me carefully. I read it. There was no other way! I can't act like an interested reader without being an interested reader. Anne's letter impressed me a lot.

* * *

_**Anne's Letter**_

_From Anne Hamstead, the prisoner of the Scarlet Hand Local Prison -_

_To the Headquarters of the Faerie Army_

_Dear friends!_

_I don't know which one of you picks this letter from the floor of the cell. Mom, Dad, Cobweb, Momma, a gingerbread man, and perhaps - who knows? - His Majesty, King Mustardseed, or Her Majesty, Queen Titania. So I'm not writing the letter to anyone in particular._

_The first thing I want you to know is that I'm alive. My nose is broken or something like that, and my throat's injured during the tortures, but I'm in the prison hospital. I've nearly healed already! And I won't be tortured anymore. The news I could have told the Scarlet Hand aren't the latest now. The battle in the Green Pixie Hills has been won, many other plans are being prepared - I've missed all of it._

_It's relatively comfortable in the prison hospital. I'm feed well, and the medical treatment is professional. The three nurses - Araucaria, Linden and Birchtree, they're dryads - are polite and kind with me. It's such a pity they're in the Scarlet Hand! They could have been good friends to us. When we win the war, I wish they could be pardoned. _

_Despite the kindness of the nurses, it's rather boring in here. The only things I have to do is: eat, drink, dress myself, take the medicines, and sleep. Nothing else is required from me. I'm bored, and I miss you all so much! I would have died of such life, but, as you can see, I'm not dead, and I'm not going to._

_You see, I've made a good friend in here. Klotgioc, who used to guard this corridor and help questioning me, has strangled Oz in a fight, and so he was put into a cell as well! You found this letter in his cell, actually._

_Well, he daily visits me. His visits are the brightest events of the day. I think he feels sorry for me or something like that. He seems very devoted to me, that's why I asked him to work as a sort of messenger._

_Without him, my existence would have been like a quiet torture. He told me the story of his life. Oh, he has such a tragic fate, poor man! He has joined the Scarlet Hand against his will, as I've found out. When we win this war, Klotgioc should be pardoned! He hasn't even fought on the battlefield against Faerie. You must understand him!_

_I have no other company in here. Well, except for Ltliuson, a new guard of Corridor Two (in Klotgioc's old place). His job is to bring Klotgioc here and to shout in the middle of our talk:_

_"Prisoner of cell number thirteen, in Corridor Two, TIME'S OUT!"_

_What can I tell you more about him? Nothing, obviously._

_I want to escape from here! Mom, Dad, I cry when imagining you, our dear villa, and my lovely nursery... If you manage to get me out of here, I feel like I'd never go to a battlefield again. I want to return home!_

_But, since it's not a nightmare in here, I can live here for a while longer. I understand that my escape can't be planned in a second._

_I miss you all and Faerie enormously._

_Anne._

* * *

I felt like tears formed in my eyes, though I considered myself unable to cry for many years. How Anne suffered in the prison! And I wasn't able to notice it: she was always calm, smiled often. I thought... what have I thought? It was stupid to think she had been happy or at least not sad in here.

Mostly, I was shocked by her mentioning myself in her letter. I didn't know I was so important for her...

Ltliuson was satisfied with me reading the letter and snapped:

"No more letters today! If you write something, the girl will get it tomorrow!"

"Oh shut up," I murmured as he left the room.

* * *

**More romance in more chapters! Just wait for it!**


	6. Whooping Cough and Letter Exchange

**Chapter 6. Whooping Cough and Letter Exchange**

Klotgioc's POV

Hours passed slowly. Worms and beetles crawled around the floor, but none of them paid any special attention to Anne's letter.

According to the large windows of my luxurious cell, it was getting dark. I felt sleepy, but I had to watch the insects' life. What if any of the spies had come to the prison already?

To avoid falling asleep, I looked out of the window. It had a view of a little yard, with garbage lying everywhere, the long gray building of Corridor One, and the tiny clean white tower of the prison hospital. I smiled. Anne.

"Oh, how's she doing now?" I thought. "I hope she's not too sad and bored in there today..."

Hours still passed slowly. I lost any faint hope in seeing the guests from Faerie. When my eyelids felt heavy and I was half-asleep on my feet, suddenly, I spotted an odd moving on the wall. I rushed to look at it. A thin earthworm was getting out of a small hole between the stones. It jumped on the floor, which was nearly two feet beneath it, without harming itself.

I guessed that if it was a fairy, he or she was afraid of me, soI said aloud:

"Enough looking at these filthy insects. I'd better go to slee-ep..." I yawned, lay on the couch and pretended to close my eyes. In fact, I was secretly watching everything. The earthworm looked at me, until being sure I was sleeping.

Then the amazing transformation started! The earthworm quickly grew in size, it changed shape and position - and in no time I saw a thin fairy man, who knelt down and picked Anne's letter up. For a moment, I could see his face. As a former prison guard, I recognized him within a moment.

"Cobweb!" I guessed. "Uh-oh. He must be very brave to go to the prison once more!"

Cobweb looked less pathetic than several days before. His face wasn't so pale, his long hair was cut accurately. But his ever-present nervous look was just the same.

"Anne is alive!" Cobweb sighed with relief as he finished reading the letter. "Thank goodness! I hoped so much!" He glanced at me, and I opened my eyes. Cobweb looked at the letter and then again at me.

"You must be Klotgioc," Cobweb said and I nodded. He continued. "Anne wrote about you. Could you tell me... is it true that she's relatively fine? Or is she writing this only to calm us all down? She writes that you visit her frequently."

"Indeed," I said. "As to her health, she's getting better. The last time I saw her, she said that her throat only hurt a little."

"Good," Cobweb smiled. "How can I deliver our response to her? Where's the hospital? You see, we've never visited it."

"You can bring your letter to my cell," I suggested. "I'll send it to Anne."

Cobweb eyed me with suspicion, but then reread the letter and finally agreed:

"All right. Anne writes that you can be trusted."

He put the letter into his pocket and said:

"Goodbye. Tell Anne that we received her letter."

He turned into a bee and flew through the same hole in the wall. Somehow I felt bad about him. Not that I hated Cobweb, but... I don't know why, but I wished he'd never come to the prison again.

* * *

**On the next day**

Anne's POV

In the early morning of that day, I was awoken by Ltliuson's rude shouts. He wasn't angry or anything, it was his usual shouting. Linden and Birchtree were begging him to talk in a lower voice. Finally, I heard his footsteps getting further from my room and sighed, relaxed. Ltliuson's manners unnerved everybody but himself a lot.

Linden came to be and chuckled:

"Sorry. That goblin wakes up everyone. Oh, by the way, he has brought you a letter from cell thirteen," she added and put an envelope on the table. "Take your medicines, and then you can read it."

I took all the medical stuff they fed me with, and hurried to open the letter.

Surely, it was from Faerie. Klotgioc's own letter was glued to it. I read both, and they cheered me up a lot.

* * *

_**Klotgioc's Letter**_

_Dear Anne,_

_First, I want to apologize. When Ltliuson brought your letter yesterday, I barely looked at it, and it made that goblin suspicious. He demanded that I read the letter. I didn't want to risk our lives, 'cause if I didn't read it, Ltliuson would have done it himself! Sorry again, I would have never read your letter on my own purpose._

_Second, everything's going according to our plans! Yesterday night Cobweb came to my cell and took your letter, and today morning he brought a reply from Faerie. It's just wonderful! Ltliuson suspects nothing now, so I can easily work as a messenger for you and the Faerie army! I'll tell Ltliuson that I don't have a plain cold but a whooping cough. I know this goblin well: he's terribly afraid of diseases. He'll barely look into my cell if I tell him about any dangerous infection I (supposedly) have._

_Well, enough talking about myself._

_How are you feeling today? Everyone in Faerie's worried about you, and I'm worried too. Please try to get better soon!_

_Klotgioc._

_Sorry if the letter's short, especially when compared to the letter from Faerie._

* * *

_**The Letter from Faerie**_

_Dear Anne!_

_Your Mom, Dad, King Mustardseed, Queen Titania and Cobweb are writing this letter. Oh, it was such a great surprise to us that you were found alive! We all were sure you died of tortures. We miss you so much, Anne! It's impossible for us to write together (right now, we're snatching the pen from each other once in five second!) So every person will write several passages. Starting with Bess._

_(Bess's writing)_

_Annie, our house seems terribly empty and sad without you! Our poor little girl, how you suffer in the prison! We've read everything from your letter. I've already pleaded King Mustardseed to organize the second escape operation in the next few days. Anne, dear, we're so grateful that your new friends care about you! We've already agreed to pardon the nurses and that Klotgioc man when the war ends._

_According to your letter, you've somehow heard the news: we've WON the Green Pixie Hills battle! It's true! Less than fifty residents of Faerie are dead, and the Scarlet Hand lost 120 soldiers, not including those who were very badly injured. The Green Pixie Hills aren't own by the Hand anymore. Annie, do you remember that they are only twenty miles away from the prison? King Mustardseed plans to completely destroy it in a week or two._

_Oh, how I wished I could help you now! Try to be strong, dearest, we'll come soon, I promise!_

_Your Daddy asks me to give the pen to him._

_(Hamstead's writing)_

_Anne, it's wonderful that you're alive and nearly well now! I miss you a lot, but I'm proud of you being so brave and clever. Anne, you've gone through lots of troubles, so now that they've almost ended, try to live until the escape. I'll lead the escape operation, King Mustardseed has decided so! You've acted like a hero, and we'll do everything to get you back!_

_As we learned from your letter, you've found a good friend Klotgioc in the prison. I'm glad you're not alone, Annie, because you're used to being surrounded by friends and relatives! It would have been hard for you to be in a crowd of enemies and with nobody by your side._

_Cobweb has taken another pen and attempts to write at the same time with me._

_(Cobweb's writing)_

_Anne, we're so glad you're alive! It was very clever of you to write a letter and send it through a prison cell! Now we've agreed to send letters to you daily - till the day of the escape operation number two._

_Oh, and I've never had a chance to thank you for saving my life four times during the first escape operation! If you didn't do it, I'd have been certainly murdered. You were incredibly brave on that day; we were outnumbered, but you fought against the Hand nevertheless._

_I miss you, Anne, and I can't wait to go with Hamstead and a few other soldiers to rescue you! Please manage to live thtough all your suffering! Help is almost on the way! Sorry, His Majesty and Her Majesty are wishing to write something to you as well._

_(Mustardseed's writing)_

_Anne, you're like both of your parents: determined and brave! Few young women can survive such dangerous adventures. Mom and I will award you with a medal when Hamstead's rescue group brings you back. Also we're planning to award that Klotgioc person - for strangling Oz himself. You see, Captain Hook is a very bad leader, and it's one of the reasons of our recent victory. Oz would have never allowed such a defeat for the Scarlet Hand._

_In four days, the escape operation will be ready._

_(Titania's writing)_

_Well, Anne, I have nothing to add. I wholeheartedly agree with my son. Moreover, in my personal opinion, you should be also awarded with a higher rank. But I haven't offered it to Mustardseed yet._

_(Everyone's writing - AGAIN!)_

_Anne, take care of yourself! Try to write a new letter to us today._

_Lovingly,_

_Mom, Dad, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Titania. Also we must tell you that you're also missed and remembered by: Momma, the Gingerbreads, and all of the fairies and Everafters in Faerie._

* * *

Anne's POV

I wanted to dance around the room! It was so exciting to read a letter from my dear home, my family and friends! I begged Linden to bring me a pen, some glue and a sheet of paper, and started writing a reply.

* * *

**Three days later**

Klotgioc's POV

Well, the letter exchange is going on like a charm. I told Ltliuson that I had a whooping cough, and now he's afraid to death of me, or my sickness, to be exact. In the morning, he shoves a piece of bread, an iron cup of water, and a letter from Anne into the cell and hurries to leave. Cobweb takes the letter every evening.

After reading it, he shoots me an unfriendly look, and I can't say I like him either. I don't know why.

Today evening, he glanced at me and mumbled:

"The rescue operation is going to take place tomorrow."


	7. How Can One Sacrifice Himself

**Chapter 7. How Can One Sacrifice Himself**

Klotgioc's POV

Although I had waited for a long time for the news about the rescue operation, I suddenly felt sadness. I mumbled something, causing Cobweb to cringe:

"Hey, are you on our side or not?"

"I'm on your side," I grumbled. "But if you continue being this suspicious, I might change my mind."

"Oh, then should we better leave you in the prison?" Cobweb said sarcastically. Suddenly, Ltliuson's voice roared from the corridor:

"Klotgioc! Whom are talking to?"

Cobweb turned into a fly and stormed away. I quickly started to talk to myself like a half-crazy:

"Where's the bread? - Oh, they surely wouldn't bring a new share of it until tomorrow. - How I hate this prison, and you? - I simply can't stand it! - But you don't even try to escape! - What for? They'll capture me. - So it's better to sit here like a fool, right? - NOO! - I don't understand you. - Neither do I."

Ltliuson opened the door and looked at me for a while. Then he murmured "nutcase" and left the cell. But then, as if remembering something to say to me, he banged at the door to shout:

"Crazies aren't allowed to write letters! I'm tired of being a postman for some captive and some half-mad fool."

I continued mumbling nonsense to myself - just for safety. After some thought, I finally realized why I felt sadness about Anne's rescue. The reason turned out to be complicated. While Anne and I were both in the prison, I was the only one to care for her, to comfort her. She wrote about me to the people of Faerie. But what would happen when Anne would escape from here? She'd become a free person, all by herself - what would some half-goblin matter to her?

"Her parents are rich enough, she can allow herself to live a happy, careless life," I thought bitterly. "I'll remain a sort of a pardoned captive, a freed prisoner, who used to be a member of the Scarlet Hand. I'm sure I won't be allowed even to meet Anne."

"Nutcaaase!" Ltliuson shouted from somewhere outside. "Commander Hook has permitted me to give you a double share of bread tomorrow. Black bread is good for brains, especially the damaged ones."

"All of you are fools!" I replied genuinely.

"Shut up!" an order came. I followed it gladly.

* * *

**On the next day**

I barely slept that night, waiting for the help to come to Anne. When Ltliuson opened the cell to wake me up, I was already lounging around the cell and shouting something like a crazy poem:

_What is the craziest thing  
In the world?  
Well, let me think.  
Oh, of course!__  
Don't say a word:  
In the end  
All of the craziest people  
Will be gathered  
Together__  
In the Scarlet Hand!_

Ltliuson's ugly face twisted in disgust. He shoved me my bread-and-water breakfast meal. I paid no attention to it.

"Don't you see the food?" Ltliuson shouted.

_The Scarlet Hand  
Is the craziest of all, _I sang, unimpressed.

"Idiot! Well, I'll eat it myself. I don't care about your brain."

_I left it a year ago,  
If you're sane,  
Then do the same_, I continued, feeling inspiration.

Ltliuson snorted and shoved his weapon - a short sharp dagger - away to free his hands; then took the loaf of bread and the cup of water. I stopped the singing and didn't give him a chance to realize it. I snatched him by the collar and punched him in the face with my free arm. His dagger was five feet away, lying on the floor, he couldn't reach for it. So he just yelled:

"HEEEEEEEELP!"

I thought my eardrums were shattered. Ltliuson continued to shout and at the same time fought me. He was much weaker, but I also was weakened after the fight with Oz, the trial and the prison.

Finally, I threw him on the floor. He lay still.

"Huh! Corridor Two isn't guarded now!" I sighed with relief. "The path for our saviors is free. Corridor One is a kind of a separate building... Corridor Three is empty, so there are no guards."

I thought that everything would go unnoticed. But alas, Ltliuson's cries for help were probably heard in the hospital. Two minutes after the end of the fight, I spotted Araucaria and Linden approaching my cell. Ltliuson left the keys in the door, so it was unlocked. The nurses opened in and both gasped in fear, when they saw Ltliuson lying still and me towering over him.

Araucaria regained her bearings first:

"LINDEN, RUN TO CORRIDOR ONE! Fetch Jinfster, the new guard of it!" she cried hysterically. The two ran like the wind. I chased them and caught Araucaria by the wrist, but Linden was fast. Soon I saw her crossing the prison yard in the direction of Corridor One building.

"What can I do?" I thought. "I can give up, but then that Jinfster will certainly call an army of goblins to Corridor Two. It will be a problem for the rescue group... Oh, I know what's better! I'll act like a plain rabid madman. I'll fight Jinfster frantically and draw his attention away from everything else."

* * *

I hit Araucaria lightly, and she ran away to the hospital in tears, rubbing the wound on her cheek. Good, now I had only Linden and Jinfster to be distracted. Linden was weak, so it left just one goblin against me.

I started to sing my song again, until I heard footsteps of two people coming to me. I looked out of the cell. Another goblin, Jinfster, was running along the corridor, with Linden by his side. Linden was crying:

"He's driven crazy or something like that! He has surely killed Ltliuson and perhaps also injured or k-k-killed Araucaria! I was afraid even to face him! He's too strong!"

Jinfster had an expression of fake bravado on his face, but when he saw me with raised fists, it faded.

"What if he runs away?" a fear crossed my mind, so I didn't wait for him to start the fight. I ran to him and hit him in the head. In a moment, we were fighting furiously, and Linden was running away. Jinfster, though, wasn't as weak as Ltliuson. He was an expert fistfighter. But my task wasn't his defeat. It was his distraction.

"I mustn't allow him to kill me until Anne is taken away from here to safety!" I thought.

In all the fighting, I was anyway able to hear the nurses crying in fright in the hospital.

"Good..." I thought. "The rescue group is doing its job... But Jinfster mustn't hear it!"

"YOU CAN'T DEFEAT _ME_!" I shouted as loud as possible and then showered Jinfster with insults. He didn't reply to it for a while, but, finally, it drove him crazy. He began to repay me with even more vulgar and loud insults, and the noise became ear-shattering. Nobody would be able to hear anything.

Suddenly, Jinfster's fist hit me between my eyes. Stars exploded in front of me, and I collapsed on the floor. He took a long rope from his pocket and tied up my hands and feet.

"Uhhhhh! At last!" he breathed out. "I'll now put you back into your cell and take Ltliuson out of there. What if he's still alive?"

But then we saw Araucaria coming to us and crying:

"A group of Faerie residents has broken into the hospital! They've already taken several patients away! And another group is freeing the prisoners of Corridor Two! We're helpless!"

"Uh-oh..." Jinfster saiid. "You see, I can fight a single Everafter and be sure I'll win," he glanced at me. "But if there are two groups of enemies..."

Meanwhile, I made up an excellent plan.

"I'll pretend to remember nothing of these fights! They'll think I'm a sleepwalker, a lunatic! And now I'll offer them help, they'll release me - and..."

I blinked, then opened my eyes again and said in a dazzled voice:

"What is it? Why are my hands and feet sore?" I looked at the rope and let out an exclaim of shock.

"Don't you remember that you wanted to fight me?" Jinfster barked.

"Me? I mean - you?" I wondered. "I've just woken up!"

"I think he was a dangerous sleepwalker," Araucaria suggested.

"Today I wanted to say that I feel sorry for strangling Oz," I spoke quickly. "I want to help you again!.."

"Well..." Jinfster said, as if uncertain. Araucaria showered me with psychological questions to figure out if I really was a sleepwalker. My random answers turned out to be correct! She turned to the goblin and said:

"He was sleepwalking. Now I know it for sure."

"Well..." Jinfster repeated. "Araucaria, do you have a pair of scissors with you?"

"Yes, I do," the nurses handed him the scissors. "What for?"

Jinfster cut the rope on my feet.

"The knot on your hands will remain there for a while. For safety," he said firmly to me. "So, if you do want to help us, run to Commander Hook's palace and call for help!"

"Oh, with great pleasure!"

Jinfster eyed me with suspicion again:

"I'll better go with you."

"All right," I said and then thought:

"Oh, here comes a problem. Well, I'll try to run from him to the rescue group. Jinfster is clever enough not to fight more than five Everafters at a time."

Araucaria stayed in my cell to take care of unconscious Ltliuson, and Jinfster led me down Corridor Two to the exit from the prison.

* * *

**Review please! Tell me whose POV should the next chapter be: Anne's, Klotgioc's or Cobweb's? And Chapter Eight will appear soon!**


	8. For Better Or For Worse

**Thanks to isabel in lala land for the review and the vote. The chapter is from Anne's POV!**

* * *

**Chapter 8. For Better Or For Worse**

Anne's POV

I woke up with a feeling that something was going to happen. But _what_? I hadn't any ideas. Everything was going on just as usual. Birchtree fed me with a bowl of meat soup and gave me a ton of tablets and healing dusts. I felt much better, and the nurses removed the bandages from my nose forever. My throat felt only a little sore.

Ltliuson walked around the hospital, waking up everyone who was still asleep. Birchtree, Linden, and Araucaria rolled their eyes. Finally, the goblin left, and everything grew quiet, calm and silent.

I was awaiting the letters from Klotgioc and my dear family and friends from Faerie. The nurses were cleaning up the hospital. Birchtree was reading Percy Shelley's poetry aloud to me, because she suspected I was bored.

Suddenly, I thought I heard a painful cry far away. Birchtree, though, didn't seem to hear it, because she continued reading expessively.

"Ahem," I said. Birchtree's mind was flowing in the world of Shelley's poems, so she didn't notice me. Another cry could be heard from one of the prison corridors:

"Heeeeeeeeelp..."

"Birchtree," I said politely. The nurse paid no attention to me, she was reading a long verse about some joyful white cloud.

The cries continued, and I snapped:

"BIRCHTREE!"

"...that orbed maiden with white fire laden, whom mortals call the moon... yes, Anne, what's it?.. glides glimmering o'er my fleece-like floor, by the midnight breezes..." Birchtree murmured dreamily.

"Birchtree! I believe I've just heard screams from one of the prison corridors!" I yelled so loud that Araucaria and Linden came running. While Birchtree was confused and scared, trying to break free from the magic poetry world, the other two nurses acknowledged everything in a moment.

"Birchtree, stay here and look after Anne. We'll go and check it," Araucaria said firmly. She and Linden dropped their mops and ran in the direction of Corridor Two. I was so worried about all this! What if it was Klotgioc screaming? What if he was being dragged away for tortures or execution?

* * *

Five minutes later, the cries stopped. Birchtree forgot about Percy Shelley and was now calming me down. I started to cry.

Another five minutes passed, and Araucaria came back in tears. She had a wound on her cheek. Birchtree rushed to her, grabbing a bottle of healing salve from the table.

"What happened?" she asked.

"That prisoner, Klotgioc!" Araucaria cried. "He has gone mad. He killed or injured Ltliuson, and hit me, and Linden had to run away and call Jinfster, the new guard of Corridor One..."

"Oh, how horrible!" Birchtree shuddered. "Ooof! It's hard for the nervous system if you work in the prison."

I started to cry as well:

"Klotgioc's sane! I think it was Ltliuson who started the fight!"

"Ltliuson's not brave enough to do it," Araucaria said as Birchtree treated her wound. I sighed. I knew it wasn't Klotgioc's fault! But it was pointless to argue with the nurses.

"Oh, if only he doesn't hurt Linden..." Birchtree whispered. We waited for the third nurse.

* * *

Finally, Linden also returned to the hospital. She was frightened but unharmed:

"Oh, they're fighting!" she told us. "So furiously! I couldn't watch it!"

"Who's fighting?" I asked.

"Jinfster and Klotgioc," Linden explained. "Jinfster's very strong. He'll stop the madman."

We sat and waited impatiently for Jinfster to come and bring the good news. I mean, the nurses were waiting for him. I, on the other hand, was hoping that Klotgioc would win.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from the roof. The nurses' nerves were bad already, and this sound nearly brought them to a collective breakdown. I was suddened by it too, of course. There were several of another crashes, CRASHES, _CRASHES_, until the roof fell - and I saw Cobweb, Mom, Dad and a dozen of other fairies!

"Anne!" all of them exclaimed in unison happily. The fairies captured Linden and Birchtree - Araucaria had a chance to break free and storm away. Of course, the soldiers were rather gentle with the nurses: after all, those were weak women. Meanwhile, Cobweb and Dad ran to me and picked me up from the couch, and Mom was quickly gathering the useful medicines.

"There's another group, led by Captain Firefly - you remember him, right?" Cobweb explained as they carried me through the hole in the roof. "They're freeing our people from Corridors One and Two."

I smiled as I saw the clear sky and the bright sun, and breathed fresh air for the first time in days. Cobweb wanted to put me into some magical flying ambulance, but I assured him I could move by myself.

After hugging and greeting Dad, Mom, and everybody else, I reminded them:

"Don't forget to save Klotgioc! He was in Corridor Two, fighting a guard, but I don't know how the fight ended!"

"Are you sure Klotgioc can be trusted?" Cobweb said. "Maybe he's helping you just for himself to get free."

"He can be trusted, it's certain!" I said. Mom and Dad smiled kindly, but Cobweb scowled. I didn't know why. I was so happy!..

"But Anne, I insist you go home on the flying ambulance carriage," Mom advised. "Your throat is still in bandages, it's really dangerous for you to fight. Yet."

"Anne, this woman's right!" Linden called for me, getting over her fear. "You should have a proper medical treatment for another two or three days!"

"You see, Annie?" Mom said. "C'mon, go home. Captain Firefly's group will take care of Klotgioc and bring him to Faerie. And we'll be home just another half an hour later, we're taking the hospital patients home."

"Fine," I surrendered.

"Can I go with Anne?" Cobweb asked.

"Sure," Dad grinned. "Let's get her into the flying ambulance."

* * *

**An hour later**

I was home! I was in my old nursery, and the people I love were standing around me. I felt like I had betrayed my sweet home by going to that terrible war.

The RG #1 "Patients" had just arrived. It was The Rescue Group #1, which had to empty the prison hospital. The RG #2 "Corridors" was still doing the task, so I knew nothing about what happened to Klotgioc.

Anyway, it was so wonderful to see everyone again!

Mom's bright smile. Dad's ever-confused round face. Cobweb's pale tired face, with shining coal black eyes. Queen Titania and her son, always self-convinced and cheerful. Momma, laughing and barking humorous commands to her gingerbread people. All of the fairies - kind, caring, peaceful. Even Linden and Birchtree were there. They were so greatly surprised that they had been pardoned, that they announced about themselves leaving the Scarlet Hand.

It was a happy dream. The happiest one I ever had. But not the happiest one I _could_ ever have. In the small circle of my family and friends, one person was missing. Klotgioc.

I drifted away to sleep and thought about him. He had never felt happiness or joy in his long life, while had experienced all the joy in the world in my nineteen years. I had never known disgust, hate, rudeness - until I was captured and brought into the prison. Why the world had such an unfair structure? I couldn't guess.

Klotgioc's soul was so soft and kind, but it didn't seem so when I first met him. His looks and manners were spoiled by the goblins and then Oz. But, thankfully, they couldn't spoil his heart. Though he taught himself to hate, he didn't hate anyone actually.

Klotgioc, please be alive, I sighed. I miss you a lot.

* * *

I turned around on the couch and woke up. The people were still overcrowding my room.

My eyes met with Cobweb's.

"Cobweb has a tragic fate too," I thought. "It's even worse for him than for Klotgioc. He had never experienced bad feelings and treatment before this awful Everafter War. It must have been so hard for him to suffer in the prison! For nearly TWENTY years! Oh, poor man, he still looks sorrowful and tired. No wonder he doesn't like Klotgioc. Klotgioc reminds him of his own imprisonment."

"It must have been so terrible for you to be imprisoned," I said aloud unexpectedly. Cobweb lowered his eyes:

"Indeed. Anne, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Of course not!" I cried. I was afraid I had hurt him. "Cobweb, _I_ understand you completely. There's no need to talk about that."

Cobweb smiled. His eyes looked into mine again.

"Try to forget it. _Everything_, Anne. Memories... they'll bring you pain," he said quietly.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Anne!" King Mustardseed interrupted. "Just in case you have forgotten in all this mess... When you get better, I'm going to give you a medal for all these rough times. Cobweb has a medal already!" he chuckled. "You'll have one as well. You're a hero. Everyone is proud of you."

I smiled. Linden was startled:

"You have _medals_ for plain soldiers here?" she exclaimed.

"Of course," Queen Titania said.

"Only g-generals can be granted with anything!" Birchtree stuttered. "Or... at least... at least, we have thought so."

"Nonsense!" King Mustardseed announced. "Stuff and nonsense. In Faerie, everyone can earn a medal or anything he wants - in theory!"

Linden and Birchtree started talking in low whispers about this law. It was so strange for them! They liked Faerie even more now.

I sighed with happiness and relief. For better or for worse, but I was home again.

* * *

**CAPTAIN FIREFLY'S VERY SHORT TELEGRAPH REPORT, WITH NOT SO GOOD GRAMMAR:**

Your Majesty, we completed the operation. There were some troubles with it. Tell you later. Klotgioc here with us. On our way home. Respectfully, Captain Firefly.

* * *

**REVIEW PLEASE! I'm eager to have 15 reviews in total and then complete Chapter Nine...**


	9. Happiness, Uncertainty and Despair

**I feel a lot of inspiration today! Two days ago, I saw an opera with a main character very similar to Klotgioc, and I immediately wished to update this story! Finally, I've found some free time to do it.**

* * *

**Chapter 9. Happiness, Uncertainty and Despair**

Klotgioc's POV

Jinfster and I exited Corridor Two. I could see a group of fairies and gingerbread people leading prisoners away from the building of Corridor One.

"It's time!" I said to myself and broke free. Jinfster roared "Liar!" and chased after me. I was fast and ran to the rescue group, shouting for help. Several fairy men spotted me and flew over to my assistance. The fight was short. One of them used a wand to paralyze Jinfster temporarily.

"You're Klotgioc, I presume?" a green-winged fairy wanted to know.

"Yes, that's me," I breathed. "Is Anne rescued?"

"Long ago!" the fairy laughed. "The rescue group number one is already back in Faerie!"

I sighed with relief.

"And we are going to join them soon," the man added. "Oh," he outstretched his hand. "Let me introduce myself. Captain Firefly."

"I remember you, you helped freeing Cobweb," I shook his hand.

"Melon! Tangerine!" Firefly called two of his soldiers. "Escort Mr. Klotgioc to the flying carriage!"

"Where will I live in Faerie?" I wanted to know.

"In Aurumtown, not far from His Majesty's palace," Firefly explained. "Sir Ernest Hamstead owns this town. It's a wonderful place, I assure you! Golden buildings, silvery brooks, green forests, beautiful gardens…"

"Wait a minute! Is Sir Ernest Hamstead related to Anne?" I cried.

"Of course he is. He's her father," Firefly smiled.

I felt true happiness maybe for the first time in my terrible life. I was going to live in the same town as Anne! In my sweetest dreams I couldn't even imagine it! While two red-haired fairies led me towards a large carriage harnessed with enormous swans, I was genuinely smiling - again, for the very first time ever.

The fairies spoke to the swans, and the carriage rose into midair.

* * *

Soon, I saw the spectacular sights of Aurumtown. It was like a precious jewel lying in brownish empty hills! I remembered that Anne lived there, and the fact made me think that Aurumtown was the best town in Faerie and in the world.

"Impressive, huh?" Tangerine asked. "Lady Elizabeth Hamstead and Miss Anne Hamstead made the projects of this town five years ago."

I was gazing at the golden villas and the colorful gardens. Of course, Anne would be the author of this beauty!

"Your house, Mr. Klotgioc," Melon said. The swans landed the carriage near a high golden building, surrounded by a garden, with columns, sculptures and fountains. I was dazzled. And I was stupid enough to believe that I would remain a peasant!

"Here are the keys," Melon said, giving me a key ring. "You can go to Sir Hamstead anytime and ask him to hire servants for you. Today evening, you'll go to an audience with His Majesty, who'll award you with a medal and a big sum of money."

"Is it all real?" I thought.

"It's very kind of him," I said aloud. "Thanks, Melon, thanks, Tangerine, for bringing me here."

"Goodbye!" they said in unison, as I opened the gates of my first true _home_.

* * *

As I walked through the gardens, I heard these two fairies talking from somewhere above:

"Such a great house, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, indeed."

"Only it lacks... guess what or _whom_?"

"It needs a hostess, of course."

"But I doubt there will be one. What sane fairy would marry a former member of a Scarlet Hand?"

"I think Miss Anne Hamstead is definitely devoted to that Klotgioc man."

"Hahaha! Oh, Melon, you never fail to talk nonsense!"

"What did I say?"

"Sir and Lady Hamstead want their daughter to marry Sir Cobweb, and Sir Cobweb has a mutual attraction to Ms. Hamstead. They're almost engaged, as I heard."

"Really?"

"Oh yes."

"Well, in fact, they're a lovely couple."

"I agree. My niece is dreaming of being their flower girl on the wedding..."

"By the way, have you heard about the new garden? The Dusk Park?"

"No. What about it?"

And the fairies started chattering on another topic. I stood still as if frozen. The key ring fell from my hand with a jingle. I didn't notice my amazing home and the lovely garden anymore.

The fairies' words echoed in my mind:

"...want their daughter to marry Sir Cobweb... Sir Cobweb has a mutual attraction to Ms. Hamstead... almost engaged... a lovely couple... their flower girl on the wedding..."

I knelt down and stopped blinking my eyes to avert tears.

"What are you so desperate about?" I whispered bitterly. "What's so dashing about Anne getting married to a noble fairy knight who loves her? It would have been much more dashing if she chose... me..."

I clenched my fists. I had gotten used to protecting Anne, caring about her, visiting her daily. Now I'd have to forget these habits. But I couldn't!

I hated Cobweb deeply in that time. How did he even dare to marry Anne? He didn't save her from tortures. He didn't comfort her when she was vulnerable. He didn't share her sufferings in that wretched prison - while she was silently crying and grieving, he was enjoying himself in Aurumtown! Why did he want to marry her? She had sweet looks (despite she was sure she was ugly). She saved his life several times. What else? She was going to be awarded. Her parents owned Aurumtown. She had a quick mind. She was gentle, tender and noble. She was just perfect.

Somehow I was sure Cobweb didn't love her, but admire her for all her qualities and social rank.

I was certain about it.

If Anne married him, she'd regret that later.

"I... won't... allow... that... marriage... to... take... place!.." I grunted under my breath. I felt like going crazy.


	10. The Proposal

**Chapter 10. The Proposal**

Anne's POV

I was sitting on the porch and gathering flowers when Lieutenant Melon showed at the door:

"Miss Hamstead, I'm glad to inform you that Sir Klotgioc has been brought to his new residence and granted with a medal by your father."

"Excellent! Thank you, Melon," I smiled.

"Is it true that you're getting married?" he asked. "Tangerine has told me that you're engaged with Sir Cobweb."

I blushed:

"Oh, Melon! There's nothing settled right now… I think Cobweb likes me, but… well, all is uncertain. I haven't even decided yet. Of course, perhaps… I'm sure that… But just – oh, don't let the gossip spread in Aurumtown. Please. If everything goes – er, further, Dad will announce it to the people by himself."

"All right. Sorry, miss," Melon bowed and left the garden. I was still blushing. Just because Cobweb is so sweet with me, people have already started _talking_! It's stupid. Of course, the gossip has a point… I may be in love with Cobweb. Am I? Oh, I'm lost. Cobweb is oh so handsome and kind, but I don't like it when he talks about Klotgioc with disdain. It's unfair, 'cause Klotgioc has saved my life in the prison!

And Cobweb behaves – what a paradox! – too adorably with me. He keeps praising me nonstop, and calls me really ridiculous nicknames like "our prettiest warrior". I know he means no harm or sarcasm, but I don't like it still.

Mom and Dad seem to like Cobweb, anyway, and King Mustardseed himself admits that Cobweb is his most reliable friend. They're absolutely genuine. Maybe I should leave my critics behind and marry Cobweb after all. I couldn't get a better match – he (most certainly) loves me, and I have a crush on him, plus his looks, intelligence and heroic behavior. A fairytale prince – a most classical version.

My thoughts were interrupted by Mother Queen Titania's voice. She was coming out of the garden with my mother:

"Anne? Do you know about the ball?"

"No, Your Majesty! What ball?" I asked, jumping up. I would have cried with surprise, but I'm not allowed even to speak loudly, since my throat needs some more healing time.

"Mustardseed has planned a ball for the day after tomorrow, celebrating the fact that the Scarlet Hand is nearly defeated," Titania explained. "Your family and friends are invited. Just for you to know."

"Thanks, Your Majesty," I curtsied. "I like dancing."

"I've bought you a fabulous azure silk dress, adorned with pearls!" Mom added, smiling widely. "Your old brown velvet one is old and not exactly suitable for such a ball – you agree, Annie?"

"Sure," I nodded. I didn't like my brown dress. "Can I try it on right now?"

"Of course, dear!"

I clapped and rushed upstairs to my personal dressing-room. Linden, who's still looking after me in case my wounds hurt again, was standing on the stairway, and I nearly knocked her down.

"Miss Anne, be careful!" she pleaded. "You aren't hundred percent healthy yet!"

"Sorry, Linden!" and I walked to the dressing-room in a more slow and gracious way.

* * *

Klotgioc's POV

Three days had passed – and I didn't know what to do. Right now I was eating fruit and whipped cream for breakfast, when Melon's voice shouted from the garden:

"Hey! Sir Klotgioc, are you home?"

"Yes, Melon!" I took the keys, walked to the garden and opened the gates.

"What news?" I asked. "Is Miss Hamstead okay?"

"More than wonderful!" Melon grinned. "She'll be the queen of the Near-Victory Ball, which is the day after tomorrow."

"When does her wedding take place, then?" I wanted to know, trying to sound nonchalantly.

"Oh, it hasn't even been arranged!" Melon laughed. "She told me that herself. She hasn't really decided whether she wants to marry Sir Cobweb. As I understand, he hasn't proposed to her yet."

I gave him some cocktail and fruit and we chattered about weather and the war for a while. Then he rose and said:

"OK, bye, Sir Klotgioc. If anything is decided about Miss Hamstead's wedding, Sir Hamstead will inform everybody in Aurumtown. But – as I've said – there's nothing obvious yet."

As he was walking to the gates, he slightly turned his face to be and mumbled:

"So you still have a chance…"

I was stunned. I muttered some goodbyes to him and walked back to my house. As I sat in the room, I tried to clear my head.

"What did he mean?" I thought. "I still have a chance… Oh! Does he assume that I am only another suitor of Anne's? These gossips… Why do they think that I'm in love with Anne?"

And suddenly a sarcastic voice answered for the depths of my soul:

"Because it's true!"

"It can't be…" I whispered. "I hate everybody…"

"Nonsense!" I argued with myself immediately. "You say it because you've learned it by heart during your life. You fell in love with Anne back in the prison – no, in Oz's palace, when Oz wanted to torture her and you came to her rescue!"

"No! I don't want to believe it!"

"Oh, don't you?"

I thought I was going crazy. I lay on the couch and slept lightly for a while, trying not to think of anything. When I woke up, at first I didn't even realize what's going on. Then, a bright image flashed into my relaxed mind. _Anne_.

I wanted to see her immediately. I dressed myself in my best new costume and went to the largest villa in Aurumtown – Anne's birthplace and residence.

Birchtree, my old acquaintance, answered the door.

"Sir Klotgioc!" she laughed. "Still going to Miss Anne for visits, I presume?"

"Yes, Birchtree," I nodded.

"I'll go tell her. You wait here in the hall," she hurried away. I walked inside the hall – the spectacular white marble hall with a fountain in the center of it and gigantic vases with flowers here and there. The Hamstead family's coat of arms was hanging above the door which led to the ballroom.

The coat of arms seemed odd to a stranger, but I knew its meaning perfectly well. A pig and a winged gray cow were standing on both sides of a straw house (its image was gold, of course). A green ribbon was below the scene, with the motto "WE SEEM WEAK BUT WE'RE NOT".

It seemed that an eternity passed until Birchtree came back and announced:

"Miss Anne is glad to receive you in the Rainbow Room – it's a room for special guests, and the hosts use it for dancing and sports exercises, because it has a lot of free space."

She showed me the way.

The Rainbow Room wasn't painted in a variety of colors, as I half-expected. Its wallpaper was blue silk, with pearls sewn into it, the ceiling was white, the furnishings light brown, and the only random-colored thing was the carpet: it represented different flowers on green grass.

"It's called Rainbow because you can choose one of seven rainbow colors for the chandelier," Birchtree explained. "Which would you choose."

"Eh… yellow?" I suggested. Birchtree mumbled a magical spell, and room looked as if sun was shining inside it.

"That's good," I assured her. She nodded, curtsied and went away. Just then, another door opened, and Anne came.

I immediately understood why she chose to receive me in the Rainbow Room. She was wearing a beautiful sky-blue dress, adorned with lace and pearls – it was the color theme of the room's wallpaper.

The dress suited her, and anyway she looked wonderful. The scars on her face were now gone, as was the sadness in her eyes. Even her red hair seemed more glossy than in prison.

"Klotgioc!" she exclaimed, smiling. "What a long time has it been!"

"Three days," I shrugged, embarrassed a little. "How's your life, Anne?"

"Perfect!" she assured me. "And yours? Do you like it in Aurumtown?"

"It's the best town I've seen," I replied. "And I've seen a good many in my life."

Anne's hazel eyes lit up with joy, she was obviously flattered.

"Do you know about the upcoming ball?" she jumped from excitement.

"Yeah, Melon has told me," I nodded. "It's called Near-Victory, right?"

"Yes! Just that!" she smiled. "The war is almost over. The Hand is clearly losing. Captain Hook is nothing of a commander. His Majesty says that in Ferryport Landing the Grimm family has almost defeated the Master himself!"

I sighed with relief. How I hated the Hand! I didn't even try to hide it now.

I was thinking about the Hand and the ball to hide my true thoughts about Anne. But I couldn't! What did I come here for? I came to stop her marriage to Cobweb which is destined to become unhappy later!

"Anne, I wanted to say something to you," I said at last.

She didn't even guess! The happy expression on her face didn't change a bit, and she asked:

"Yes, what's that?"

Oh, if she wasn't so naïve, if I noticed _something_ in her eyes and voice that indicated that she understood, it would be easier for me to speak further! I coughed. The words seemed to run away from my head. It took me a while to gather them. Anne's face became intrigued and concerned: she understood that there was a serious matter going on.

"Anne, I love you," I said finally. "I have loved you since the first time we really met, remember – you had just been captured… Anne, dear, will you marry me?"

She didn't move. I thought she was too startled.

"Don't think I'm marrying you for your wealth and titles – the mayor's daughter, and so on… I fell in love with you when I hadn't got an idea who you were – you were a courageous girl who desperately needed 'a shoulder to cry on'."

"I… I believe you, Klotgioc, but it's all so sudden!" she exclaimed, her cheeks red. "I'm lost! Let me think. I promise I'll give you an answer at the ball."

"Then… then… see you at the ball, Anne," I stammered. She gave me a hurried curtsy and ran away.

I lost hope. I was going to suffer for two days! Poor delicate Anne – she didn't want to strike me with her decline immediately – or she had to muster her bravery to decline… Anyway, when she reacted like this, I almost knew that Cobweb is the lucky one of us.

I went down the stairs and out of the house. I didn't even say goodbye to Birchtree.


	11. Before The Ball

**Chapter 11. Before The Ball**

Klotgioc's POV

"King Mustardseed wishes to see you, sir," a messenger fairy said with a bow. I cringed. I've just returned from the Hamsteads', and I didn't want to go anywhere.

But if I didn't go to the King, he would get quite angry – so… I nodded:

"Yes, I'll be in an hour."

I saddled my new stallion and rode from Aurumtown to Faerie Capital. The route was short. The guards recognized me, and I got to the main hall of the palace without problems. King Mustardseed and Mother Queen Titania were sitting on the thrones, looking both majestic and friendly – as usual. I noticed several fairy generals (including Cobweb, to my disdain), the Six Dwarves, and Sir Ernest Hamstead standing before them. I bowed.

"Hello, Sir Klotgioc," the King said. "As the war is almost over – only the small remains of the Hand have to surrender to end it – we are planning what to do when peace comes."

"And we've decided to search for new lands, to make the Everafters' kingdom larger," Titania nodded. "The world of Faerie is large enough. We were lucky to discover the entrance to it in Central Park – long ago… Moreover, this world is practically uninhabited. We don't even know its geography."

"The border of Faerie is only fifty miles away from Aurumtown and sixty miles away from the capital," Sir Hamstead added."

"Indeed," the King said. "Modern Faerie is located on a small island. If people continue mistreating Everafters – despite we saved them from the Hand – Everafters will continue moving to Faerie. And where do we have the room for everyone?"

"We need more land," Titania agreed. "The world of Earth is populated mostly by humans. So, what do we do? We'll have to send expeditions to discover new lands. One of our bird servants flew some way south and saw nothing but ocean. But on his way he met another bird who didn't look like any Everafter or simple birds we know! Which means there's land located in the south!"

"That's why I decided to send all of you to explore that new Terra Australis Incognita. After the war comes to a _complete_ end," Mustardseed concluded. "We'll give you our best ship and the bravest and cleverest crew we have. The details will be discussed when peace is settled. Just – be ready. Any questions?"

I was boiling mad. An unknown amount of time on the same ship with _Cobweb_, many miles away from Anne! I wouldn't have agreed to go for a billion tons of gold.

But before I could say a word, Sir Hamstead stepped forward.

"Sorry, Your Majesty, but I can't leave my family for a long time. Bess won't be able to handle our work in the Embassy alone. Anne won't be happy if I leave either."

"I talked about this with Lady Elizabeth Hamstead," Titania assured him. "She insists on going with you. We'll find someone to work in the Embassy instead of you, while you're away. So the question is whether Miss Anne Hamstead agrees to go on this voyage."

"She might not agree," Cobweb warned the royals. "She has suffered so much during the war. She may just want to rest."

"If she doesn't agree, I won't go, sorry, Your Majesties," Sir Hamstead said. "But I think she will. She loves traveling."

"Well, you can ask her after the Near-Victory Ball," Queen Titania smiled. "Cobweb is right – let the girl rest a little after her adventures."

"No, I think you should better wait for the Victory Ball, 'cause it's obvious that one is upcoming very soon," King Mustardseed corrected. "Alright, then we'll discuss the plans later. Dismissed."

We said goodbye to the royal family and walked to the exit. I wished Anne would agree to go on this voyage! It seemed incredibly intriguing to me, but I didn't want to go without her – at all.

When I was walking through the Faerie Garden that surrounded the palace, I suddenly saw Cobweb landing from the sky in front of me.

"What can I do for you, Sir Cobweb?" I asked, trying to sound calm.

"Leave Anne… Miss Hamstead alone!" he said angrily. "You've visited her again today, Birchtree saw you! Miss Hamstead doesn't want anyone to remind her of her life in prison. Your visits annoy her, didn't you know? She doesn't want a traitorous goblin as a _friend_!" he shouted.

"Sir, how do you know it?" I did my best to speak officially. "And what of your concern is it?"

He turned red and (I think) nearly exploded from fury:

"What of _my_ concern! Miss Hamstead is my fiancée! She tells me everything!"

"Sorry, sir, I'm sure you're wrong. Miss Hamstead told Lieutenant Melon just this morning that she's not anyone's fiancée – yet," the supply of polite replies in my mind was coming to an end.

"_Yet_!" Cobweb shouted. "I'm going to propose to her at the ball, and she will certainly say yes! It's obvious she loves me. I wouldn't have said it if I was unsure. And I don't want some ever-frowning, always unhappy ogre to spoil our happiness!"

"Sir Cobweb, what do you want me to do?" it was the last polite phrase I could muster.

"Stop visiting the Hamsteads' villa without being invited!" he snapped. "And please, don't come to the Near-Victory Ball. You can't dance anyway, and the only girl you know here is Miss Hamstead. I don't want you to distract her during the ball. Understand? Or are the conditions too difficult for your little brains?"

My patience came to an end. It always did… I'm not a patient kind of a person.

"I have more brains than you!" I shouted at him. "I was able to run away from the same Scarlet Hand Local Prison after several days. You spent twenty years in there! And I have no magical abilities, for you to know!"

"Alright, sorry for the last remark," Cobweb murmured. But I continued my tirade:

"_I _am sorry, but I can't stay away from Anne at the Near-Victory Ball. She promised to give an answer to me at this ball, you see."

"An _answer_?" Cobweb cried. "Do you mean – you _proposed _to her?"

"I did," I nodded and waited for him to attack me or do something like that. He didn't. He suddenly calmed down and smiled:

"Why, of course! Let her give you the answer…"

He paused, looked at my astonished face and added with sarcasm:

"Because it will be a 'no' – no doubt!"

With these triumphant words he flew away. I was left with a bitter feeling of him being right. I walked to my horse and rode home, staring ahead blankly.

* * *

Anne's POV

I was sitting on the balcony, looking at the sunset, when Linden came to me and announced:

"Sir Cobweb wants to see you, Miss Anne."

"OK," I said. Soon I heard Cobweb's hurried steps in the hall, and he opened the balcony door.

"Good evening, Anne," he said.

"Hello, Cobweb," I turned my head to him.

"I want to talk to you," he started. _Oh dear. Is he going to propose to me as well? I'm already confused… Do I love him – or Klotgioc? _

"Is it true that Klotgioc proposed to you hours ago?" he asked straightly.

"Yes," I blushed. "I've asked him to give me some time to think."

"Anne, do you love _him_?" he wanted to know anxiously.

"Maybe," I whispered. "My mind is completely messed up. That's why I'll give him the answer during the Near-Victory Ball."

"How can you even consider him a friend?" Cobweb exclaimed. "Anne, I've known him for twenty years. He used to be the guard of Prison Corridor Three, before he angered Oz and was moved to Corridor Two! He's just the same as any other goblin from the Hand."

"No, Cobweb, he's not the same," I sighed. "First, he's not a goblin – he's a human kidnapped and raised by goblins. Second, he has such a kind soul! He had only been hiding it for years from everybody, including himself. Now that he's free, he's sorry for working as a member of the Hand."

Cobweb's face softened. He opened his mouth, as if he was going to ask me something, but then closed it.

"Please, don't be so rude with Klotgioc," I begged him.

"I'm not rude!" he said.

"Your voice is so sharp when you speak with him…" I said. "Cobweb, try not to do it. For me?.."

He hesitated a little.

"All right," he said finally, then switched to another topic. "By the way, have you heard that Their Majesties plan to send an expedition to discover new lands in the south? When the war ends, they want to send a ship with your father, mother, K-Klotgioc, the Six Dwarves, several fairy leaders, and I as the commanders. And they wanted to ask you if you'd like to go."

"Oh, of course!" I cried enthusiastically. "I'd love to!"

Linden knocked on the door.

"Miss Hamstead, sorry, Captain Firefly wants you to look through some new battle plans," she apologized.

"Sorry, Cobweb, bye," I smiled and hurried to the Second Military Base of Faerie.

* * *

Cobweb's POV

I saw Anne riding her pony in the direction of Firefly's military base. I sighed and went to the front door as well.

Anne has agreed gladly to go to the expedition. The question was – for whom? Me? Klotgioc?

"Oh, don't be so stupid," I muttered. "For her parents, of course."

I counted hours until the ball. I was gathering all my courage to propose to Anne. _Anne, please don't say yes to Klotgioc_…


End file.
